Submarine Rescue
East Mithril Depths - Mithril Sea The Mithril Sea becomes a harsh place in this region, due to the Decepticon pollution above. Only the strongest wildlife survives here, and there have been reports of vicious beasts in these hateful depths that make even the toughest Decepticons think twice about getting in the water. Thanks to some rockin' Autobot Intel assistance and the eggheads of course, the submarine Blurr has managed to disguise is a pretty sleek-looking submersible. Purple and teal streak its frame as it coasts through the sea, filled up with Autobros in their own disguises (or just... sans Autobot insignia). Everyone's signatures have been properly masked, so they don't make a single blip on passing 'con vessel radars. The hulking femme, Imager sits in on a cramped crate in this rustbucket, and she's not happy. "Beginning to think I signed up for the wrong mission there, Chief." She stands from her idle position, then looks at the control station for the sub, as if she could really see outside. "All this water out there, that'd make me short out like nuthin." She adds, as if anyone needed the example, "Like fry all the petrolfish in the Mithril Sea kinda short out." She looks uneasy at the console, behind Blurr. "Whazzat? Was that a rock, don't wreck the thing!" She reaches out to grab the yoke, but refrains just in time. The refueler sags, "I, uh...I gotta be...not right here." Jazz smirks at Image's comment "Now now, have faith. This is not the first time we are trying something risky." The Autobot is looking darker than usual. His bright white paint is now a matt translucent gray. "Here is the plan...We slowly and silently go through the submarine bay. From there we will try to find a vent or access tunnel towards the Decepticon dungeon. Maybe we can find a dump chute we can climb back up. Lazy as they are they don't carry bodies out the dungeon they must dump them which means a big enough chute somewhere." He looks back forward "As for the rest...We'll improvise." "Chill, babe. Just stop lookin out the viewport if it's makin' ya edgy." It's hardly the first time Sandstorm has been painted up as a Decepticon to sneak into some place they shouldn't be. "You're in here, the water's out there." He's... really not helping, is he? Despite the close quarters the Wrecker has managed to make himself comfortable in a corner, running the blade of his knife over a whetstone. He's really hoping for a chance to get it shove it in some Decepticon's back. The submarine groans through the murky depths, headed slowly but surely toward the Decepticon stronghold. Blurr is standing over the nav console, checking it every once and a while as they approach their destination. At Imager's complaints, he sighs and tries to reassure her as the others are. "Don't worry Imager, if all goes as planned, the water won't touch you." Imager snorts, "Nothing ever goes to plan." Still, the three mechs manage to reassure her enough that she backs off, a frown on her faceplate. She hefts her arms up and crosses them over her chest. Of all the Bots here, Sandstorm had the closest mentality to hers, so she manages to give an aside glance to what he's doing, that whetstone work. She manages to mutter, "could use a good big ole honking club or somethin myself..." as she idly waits. After a few moments, energy focuses to her Helios Array, that strange reddish gem peeking out beneath her layered armor. Small holoprojections start to pop up, cycling as she looks for proper disguises. "Hmmm makes me wish I had Pirhanacon on file or something, BUT..." She labors the point, "I can make us look like goons when we hit shore at least." F-35B Lightning II wonders what she did to end up assigned to patrolling the Mithril Sea underwater. This is really not her favourite thing to be doing! Dangerous beasts, treacherous navigation, Lord of the Rings references... it never ends. But that's what Contrail gets for being a seaspacejet. Jazz checks his plan B and plan G...all good. The agent meister smiles "At least you remembered that lesson." Jazz ponders the disguise "Yeah goons will work or maintenance mechs. Whatever is around us at the dock." There is a distant thrumming sound that grows louder and louder. Radar shows it to be the size of a Decepticon vessel, and the crew gear up to bring the weapons online, but the viewport illustrates a different entity. Passing in front of the sub is a giant streamlined mechanimal of sorts, both sides lined with multiple paddling fins. Trailing cables from its "nose" like a big catfish, it drifts by with a blast of bubbles and an armor rattling bellow, pausing to peer into the submarine with a big yellow optic before moving on with disinterest. Its fluke does give the sub's hull a light -thump- though. Blurr will see the vague, misty outline of the harbor's seawall in the distance, and the submarine airlocks built into the side. There is a giant circular window above this, dimly lit from within. "Eh. Blunt object's nice at times, but way too noisy." Sandstorm withdraws the knife from the stone and twirls it in his hand twice before gripping it tightly. "But a knife," he makes a quick jabbing thrust at the air. "Can take out a guard without them ever hearing it come." He twirls the knife again before flicking it back and tucking it into a hidden compartment. "As much as I like a good brawl, there are times where you need to be subtle in this line of work." She snorts, "And knives don't breech thick armor, and are more likely to get stuck anyway, they're easy to hide, sure, but they sunder easy too. BUT...", again she draws out the word "It's a moot point so far as I can see." She reaches back over her shoulder to draw out the tower shield that her solar array becomes in bot mode. She slaps it on the ground, in an accustomed motion, then pauses to grimace at the thud it creates. After a moment, she continues "This works out pretty well, and helps against inbound fire." It seems Imager has managed to get past her H2O-phobias. Blurr wonders absently if she'd ever been stationed on Earth. Slag, if she thought this was bad, imagine an entire planet with water covering most of its surface and with all of its native lifeforms surviving off of it. Heh. Spotting the sea wall ahead, Blurr directs the submarine toward it. "The harbor's been sighted, taking us into submersible docking bay 3002, sublevel 6. If they request any kind of IFF code..." he glances up at Jazz with a slight smirk. "...well let's just say I'll leave that in our director's capable servos." <> says a voice over the submarine's radio. <> Jazz listen to the gang get into a dipstick measuring contest. "With a bit of luck we won't need any of that. We go in looking all normal and walk out carrying a corpse who is not really dead and we vanish. Simple, clean and quiet." Listens to Blurr's status and nods. The mech walks over to the comms console that was previously opened and sticks something on the IFF module. They luck out and it is recognized. The Intel bot gets on the horn and changes his voice a bit << Bringing prisonners and supplies from Kaon.>> Sandstorm hrmpfs softly and crosses his arms as he looks away when Jazz rains on the parade, muttering something that can be barely made out as "no fun if you're not running for your life at the end" under his non-existant breath. Imager manages to snort a chuckle at Sandstorm's restrained comment, but otherwise leaves it in Jazz' capable hands. She does shift away from her slouched position at the hull though...quietly-ish. <> Another voice chimes in, <> Submarine Bay - Helex Deep below the surface and set into the seawall are smallish hexagonal pod-like entrances just large enough to fit the smaller submarines. Airlock doors seal them and drain the water within while the subs themselves are locked into berths and pulled into the main bay. It's a cavernous undersea hangar, dank, dim and highly humid, with strange mechanical growths, similar to coral, that have formed on the tiled floors and walls. Watercrafts and submersibles under repair are docked near the giant circular window situated above the multiple airlocks, which casts shafts of silvery light. Imager says, "anyone else feel up to just one huge jailbreak?" The sneaky Autobots gain admittance, and the sub is left docked in one of the airlocks in the seawall. As they disembark, they'll step into a vast room with an extremely high ceiling, and that big ole' circular window to the sea Blurr saw earlier. Decepticons bustle through with crates or parts, though a few pause to eye the newcomers with some scrutiny. Sandstorm says, "I certainly wouldn't object to it.... shoot, too bad Blaster ain't here, I bet he'd have the perfect song." Hardhead says, "Jailbreak?" Jazz whispers to the gang before stepping outside. Imager, Sandstorm guards. Blurr and I prisonners. Let's move. Imager says, "ahhh...Sir...you want the two that can't lie for nothing to be the guards in this op?" Jazz says, "Allright, Sandstorm and I switch place." Sandstorm says, "Hey I can lie just damn fine... but Jazz is a lot more slick, yeah, that's probably a good idea. Because, caught Wrecker! That'll look good." Blurr chuckles a little and shakes his head at Sandstorm's muttered words, as well as the argument with Imager. He glances at Jazz with a look that most definitely says something about infantry being composed mostly of brutish types who don't understand what a 'clean operation' means. As he disembarks the sub, he does his best to keep a low profile and not attract any unnecessary attention. He listens to the disguise plan from Jazz and quickly moves into position, optics glued to the floor and posture crammed into a dejected-looking stance so as to appear as convincing as possible. <> Imager says, "I figure we're going with neutrals here since we don't want anyone to go get 'interrogated' by whatever pompous afthole is in charge of this git." Sandstorm says, ".. or that" Jazz pulls out his rifle and shoves Sandstorm forward acting all mean and stuff. "Allright that way pal. Let's go see your new accomodations." Jazz guides Sandstorm towards a small tunnel in the rock face and stops near the entrance. Imager nods once at Jazz, she gives an eye over the cons in the area just to doublecheck that they were the standard garden variety workers and guards, then helixes up a framework pattern to the others. Considering the situation, she makes the prisoner detail a group of downtrodden Neutrals, and after a bit of quick discussion on +a which is totally secure in case Soundwave is around, manifests a more brutish guard lineup for herself and Jazz. "Mkay then, don't stray off too far." Sandstorm nods a little at Jazz.. and then snorts softly as Imager suggests otherwise on the radio. Eventually he just rolls his optics and mutters "fiiiine" as he switchs spots with Jazz. But then brightens up as he remembers he's prepared for such occassions, pulling out a pair of fake manacles and hooking them on his wrists before slouching forward and doing his best to look miserable at the rifle shove. "I didn't do nuttin' wrong, I swear..." Jazz says, "There is a weird tunnel there in the rock face. Does not look like the rest. We will pause near the entrance and pretend to check orders on a datapad while Tailgate takes a peek inside." In a transformation that is harder than it looks, Contrail rises up into robot mode. Tailgate trails uncertainly after the others, glancing down at the disguise he's been assigned and looking slightly uncomfortable. He's not too sure why he's here, except that Blurr had asked him to come along, so he did. He's not so good at lying, so he's hoping he can just do what he always does, go unnoticed and not have to say a single word. Blurr says, "Understood." Leaning against a wall, Ramjet seems to be smoking a long ener-cigar, when one of the techs points up towards a no-smoking sign. Sparing a sneer and and grumble, Ramjet takes the Ener-Cigar and throws it on the ground, "Slaggin' underwater bases...I thought we were over these..." He pushes past the Tech who grumbles and cleans up the mess that Ramjet just made. Spying the new-comers, Ramjet makes his way towards them, "What the slag is this?" He asks openly, "Why aren't they roughed up more..." Tailgate says, "Oh.. ! Me?! O-okay..." Contrail finishes her disgusting patrol in the deep and only has to fight off /one/ tentacle monster from the great beyond. That's a good patrol, for this area. Still picking off barbed suckers from her armour, Contrail enters from another airlock. Maybe she'll run into the crew with the 'prisoner'! The minibot inches slowly towards the unnatural tunnel in the rock face, then after poking his helm into the entrance, sliiiiides inside. "...h-hello?" he says very softly. But there's no response--only a faint echo of his own voice... and... was that.. was that the sound of anguished cries in the distance? His optics widen, and he shudders. Glancing around, he notices that there's patches of energon on the ground as well as frantically scratched marks on the walls. Upon closer examination, these marks resemble the symbols of the neutrals. Tailgate gasps quietly. Tailgate says, "You ought to come have a look in here....!" Jazz looks up at Ramjet "Because of some PR stunt. If we rough up the neutrals too much or too many disappear they could fully side with those filthy autobots." He motions to the prisonners "We just need to make sure of a few things, make sure stories check out and stuff. Command wants us to keep a 'balance'...well for a while anyway." Jazz says, "Tied up here Tailgate. Keep looking but avoid detection. Will link up when possible." Imager says, "I'll keep the 'prisoners' here, you guys send out a tone when you want to unlock the holos from ya" Sandstorm hunches down and does his best to look like a pathetic wreck. But the shudders and twitching isn't just for looks, they help conceal his more deliberate movements to look the chamber over, taking note of a few details, and occasionally glancing down the passage the minibot is sneaking off into. .. Some of that twitching is probably authentic agitation at not getting to just punch Ramjet's cone in, too. Whatever helps. Blurr just keeps playing the downtrodden neutral part, keeping his optics averted and hoping Ramjet will walk away. Hmm...is there any way he can potentially speed this process? Possibly. Suddenly, the speedster grips his lower chassis and makes a choking sound, feigning that he is about to spew something disgusting everywhere. Some Decepticons mind it (like Blast Off)...so it's worth a shot. Imager -Con just crosses her arms, a frown on the Femme Con Guard's face. She steps in behind Jazz-Con to help block the view of the prisoners, at least to Ramjet's vision. She openly sneers at Jazz-Con's words, "Meh, what do they even care? Better off just to melt em down." Of course, since she says that part towards Ramjet, it may just be directed at him. After that, she turns her back to keep close watch on the prisoners. Jazz -Con shrugs "Hey I don't make the rules I just do my job. Taking initiative is fine sometime but taking too much can lend you or worse ME in the hole." Jazz looks back towards the sub pen "By the way we saw some huge mechanical fish with tentacles not far from the sub pen. Didn't seem aggressive at the moment but...anyone of you know something about it?" Jazz says, "Maybe we can get them to investigate the mechafish." Imager says, "I think you're going to get shot for asking questions." Some of the technicians are lingering to watch now, mostly because Blurr looks like he's going to void his tanks, and it's the most amusement they've had all day. But when Jazz mentions the tentacle fish, they dart towards the airlocks in a hurry, shoving past Contrail. Looking at Jazz, "PR? Balance..." Ramjet grumbles as he reaches up to rub his jaw, "That sounds about stupid enough to come from the Organic filth that is coming from Command these days..." He then looks over at Imager-com flashing a ruthless smile, "How you doin'? Haven't seen you before..." Taking a step towards her, Ramjet turns and looks at Sandstorm, "What's wrong twitchy, miss the old days where we would use you for 'live' target practice...you'd make a great Tar....THE SLAG!" Ramjet jumps backwards from Blurr, "Did you morons feed these empties! They can't take military grade energon..." Ramjet sneers, "Monster? Eh, probably old one-eyes experiment run smoke...if y'all are lucky maybe you can watch when we feed the prisoners to it..." Ramjet laughs out loud. Jazz chuckles "Yeah. Hey! Maybe you guys can find a way to herd it back not too far from the docks. We can't throw THESE prisonners but they might give us a couple of others on the way back." Dungeon - Castle Decepticon - Helex Dimly lit by energon torches, rows of cells line the walls of this circular room, so that all of the prisoners have an excellent view of the torture chamber in the center. Eerily quiet, the prisoners here learned a long time ago that bargaining, begging, and screaming was a hopeless waste of energon. Tailgate slowly makes his way through the long winding tunnel--it's quite dark and at some points, he simply has to grope along blindly. But as he progresses along the tunnel, the anguished cries become more pronounced. He cringes, trying not to imagine what pain they might be enduring... Tailgate protoforms! Imager looks over at Blurr-Con's choking, then back to Ramjet, firmly she replies "Say another word to me, and I'll stick a boltgun up your turbocharger and rivet your mouth shut." She returns back to Blurr-Con, "Alright, alright, die spewing in the water. not the dock, I ain't cleanin it up." With that she picks up Blurr by the waist, and holds him out over the water, and manages only to recoil a little from the water. However when the group carries along its way, she follows suit with Blurr of course. Landshark had also been out patroling the sea bed, and like Contrail, he too also encountered a tentacle creature of his own. Unlike Contrail though, Rippersnapper got his aft plate thoroughly handed to him because he made the incorrect assumption that the strength of his underpowered arm servo was superior to a seemingly harmless creature minding its own business. He got suckered good, but hey at least he managed to get away in one piece and no one was the wiser about it. Rippersnapper finally makes it back to base, emerges from underwater, and promptly complains, "Psh, it's a waste of us Terrorcons' talents to be dealing with these worthless tentacle creatures lurking down in the water." What he really felt was, 'Oh god, oh god, stop sending me against things that can pop my head open like a soda can.' Desire to possibly blow cover by kicking Seeker ass rising... fortunately before Sandstorm can do more than twitch again Blurr handily distracts Ramjet by.. wow. That takes something to hurl your fuel like that willingly. "Oh Primus ew, don't get yer smelly upchuck on me!" He takes advantage of the moment to scramble back from his fellow prisoner and cower closer to the their guards. "You finally get energon and you waste it all over the deck! What is wrong with you mech?" Jazz the gang heads up the tunnel towards where the empties and neutrals are kept. He stays between Sandstorm and Ramjet. "Come on I ain't got all cycle." Holding his hands in front of him as if holding an imaginary cube, Ramjet shakes them up and down, "Let's see, Cybertronian Cube of Plot Devices...should I continue to flirt with the vicious blood thirst femme..." He then winks at Imager as she threatens him, "Or clean up some stupid monster that might eat me..." He continues to shake, "Hey! Flirt the Bloodthirsty guard..." Ramjet moves towards Imager-Con, "Oh, my turbocharger and mouth both need some rivet....HEY!" Ramjet looks at Sandstorm, "Best to use your words wisely, 'cause 10 credits says you are gonna lose that free will when Hook or Vortex gets a hold of you..." He looks at Jazz, "Shut up ground pounder..." Imager lets out several disgruntled noises. Contrail is still picking off barbed tentacle suckers when she wanders off into the dungeons to check and see if there's anything interesting going on. And she comes across a little group! Contrail greets pleasantly, "Good cycle! And what do we have here?" She puts a hand on her hip. It's not a terribly pleasant place, the dungeon. The cells are set in a circle, a decent chunk of them filled with decrepit Empties that sprawl on the floor or lean against the wall, absently gazing into the center of the room. Some have their face in their hands. Tailgate will spot a yellow minibot, rather bright amongst all of the lifeless drab colors here. He's missing a leg and is sitting on the floor behind the energy barrier, listing against the cell wall. It's hard to tell if he's conscious. Yeah, it's a stretch, but Blurr does follow through on his pretense. It's not easy to force your pumps and fuel valves to reverse, but it's doable--with some training. But in his line of work, he's probably done it before. He purges into the water, though some of it lands on the deck as Imager drags him away after the group. Well, so far so good--minus the voluntary fuel purging. "...just get on with it will you...quit making small talk..." he mutters to the 'guards'. Jazz says, "Tailgate, it's on you. We need to keep the Decepticons busy. You will have to break out the target. When things go south...have faith." Tailgate says, "Oh, Jazz!! It's terrible in here! They look so miserable. :sounds like he's about to cry." "I'd rather die to your torture than live under your rule," Sandstorm snaps back at Ramjet with a sneer, though he's still hunching down closer to his guards. Manacles rattle as he jerks his arms a bit, as if trying to strain them. "Don't mock me, just get it over with." Man, this dungeon is like the third worse dungeon he's been in. Don't ask about the first and second, that's classified Wrecker information. Jazz says, "I know...stay focused man. If you lose it. No one might make it out, including us. If you hold...we can make this an awesome day. I can count on you man you won't let me down?" Imager -Con rears back her arm, then underhanded throws Blurr-Neutral ahead a bit down the tunnel, "Well so much for courtesy, get up and walk then, or I'll shoot out your leg servos and let the undersea beasties get a snack." She silently fumes as Ramjet keeps up the flirting, enough that she clenches her fist, her head down, just silently being in line at least for a moment longer or two. Imager says, "....yeah, fine." Sandstorm mutters "oh I'll keep em busy alright..." <> a technician chimes in over the main Decepticon frequency. <> Tailgate moves out of the tunnel and into the dungeon, optics widening at the sorry sight of the beaten down empties. His ventilators intake air sharply, and he looks around, deadpanning to make sure there aren't any Decepticons around. He notices the yellow minibot with a missing leg and his spark drops. A fellow minibot, so damaged and injured, he can hardly stand to look at him. Making sure to keep himself hidden, he inches closer to the yellow mech, attempting to wave at him and get his attention. Tailgate says, "Yes, of course! I promise I won't let you down, sir." Staring at Sandstorm and then Blurr, "Oh, I see y'all haven't had been debrief...See...There will be pain in your future. Lots of pain...Then...more pain. They some darkness followed by..." He looks at Imager as she threatens Blurr. "Getting your leg servos shot and feed to a sea monster." He smiles at Imager, "You always skip to the punchline? Shame you ain't a Seeker..." Ramjet smiles again at her, "But I have been with worse..." He then looks at Sandstorm, "Oh, and from where I am standin' I am the one gonna see tomorrow and you are the one who is goin' do some Sea Monster Stomach Analysis..." Blurr stumbles forward as he is thrown, his optics still downcast. As he does so, he checks in with Tailgate. <> he presses. Sandstorm says, "Ramjet's a dumbaft, just keep him focused on taunting us." Contrail ducks off into an alcove and taps the side of her helmet, replying, << I do,>> she looks back over her shoulder at the group. <> << I'll bet the latter. In any case, don't let them leave,>> replies the tech. Jigsaw slowly comes to, his optics brightening somewhat. He stares at Tailgate and responds with a snarl, assuming he's just another Decepticon. One that is short and looks totally harmless. "Here to poke and prod, are you," he growls, shuffling towards the back of his cell. Blurr says, "Tailgate, what's your status? Have you identified the target?" Tailgate says, "...I-I think so...." Imager says, "the one legged mech? I don't have too good a disguise for that, buuuuut we could manage" Sandstorm hurks up just enough oil to make some spittle and spat it at Ramjet's foot. "Big words for a warrior threatening a mech in chains... You Decepticons think your all such hot slag, yer just a bunch of self entitled bullies." He then fakes some more coughing, like spitting up that oil wasn't such a good idea after all. Sandstorm says, "Please please pleeeease say I can 'distract' 'em now." Blurr says, "You think so?" Jazz eyes the close quarters they are in and puts his rifle away yanks on Sandstorm's chain "Hey watch your mouth or you be picking it off the floor. Keep moving and enjoy that walk. Might be a while before you get out...if you do." Blurr sighs. "Do you have him or not?" Jazz says, "Hold on just a little bit Sandstorm." Tailgate says, "the one legged mech? If that's him, then yes.." Blurr says, "Is he conscious?" Tailgate says, "Yes!" Imager says, "I can hit him with some 'gon when I put the holo up." Glaring at Sandstorm, Ramjet leans over and smiles coldly, "Guilty as charged." He then stands back up, looking at Jazz, "Now...y'all are use to your smooth headed Seekers, those Prima Donnas like to think they are royalty...not me, I know what I am..." He then tilts his head as his radio beeps. He grins coldly at the group as he slides closer towards Imager, "Come on darlin'...why don't you tell Ramjet all about..." He reaches out to bear hug her, "WHO YOU REALLY ARE AUTO-SCUM!" Combat: Ramjet strikes Imager with his Bear Hug of Truth (Grab) attack! Imager says, "well so much for that" Jazz says, "The gloves come off." Sandstorm says, "Get our friend. This is where I get to have fun finally~" Contrail ducks out of the alcove, draws her whip, and casts it out at the Not-Jazz, trying to snare his ankle. She calls out, "Halt, scum!" Combat: Contrail strikes Jazz with her Grab attack! Combat: Jazz sets his defense level to Fearless. Tailgate glances around, ensuring that there no Decepticons before emerging from hiding. It suddenly occurs to him that he doesn't need to, because he's disguised--he'd temporarily forgotten about that! "I'm gonna save you," he whispers to Jigsaw, optics wide and far too innocent and sympathetic looking to belong to a Decepticon. He takes stock of their surroundings and quickly notices a switch on the wall--he doesn't hesitate before pressing it down, opening all of the cell doors. Combat: Imager compares her Strength to Ramjet's Strength: Failure :( Imager muses over +a with everyone about possibilities as the group sort of idles for a moment, and she ignores Ramjet. Then the Seeker makes his play, she turns to him just about to say something snarky. "Hands off, turbocreep." She wriggles in his grasp, and she's quite the big Bot, but with her arms pinned, it makes her choices a bit more difficult. The worst part is that her hologram flickers and fades under the assault (since she's being touched and the Helios Array is being blocked). With precious little options, Imager rears her head back, and uses that flat conical part of her crown as a weapon as she starts to headbutt Ramjet repeatedly, possibly doing damage, and possibly making the Seeker another of her suitors. "You're getting..." CLANG, "on my..." CLANG "NERVES!" CLANG! Combat: Imager sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Imager misses Ramjet with her Triple Headbutts (Kick) attack! Jazz 's head snaps up as the whip coils around his ankle. He spins a raising kick and brings it down across the whip for leverage hopefully dragging Contrail towards him. Jazz goes for the wrist and tries to flip Contrail into Ramjet after that Jazz tumbles forward towards Rippersnapper with two quick punches mostly meant for dazing and yanks on the terrorcon to throw him in the Decepticon pile. Blurr makes motions of continuing along slugglishly, though he is really communicating with Tailgate regarding whether Jigsaw has been located, which he is finally able to confirm. Tailgate is good at going unnoticed, that's for sure, but when it comes to specifics...sometimes he can be a little frustrating. He makes a mental note to give the minibot some more training sessions later. And then Ramjet blows their cover. Well, it probably wasn't him, but someone else told him. So much for the clean operation plan. Noticing a switch on the wall, he gives Tailgate a look that can only mean one thing. But this time the minibot is on it already. The cells deactivate, and those who are able to move rush out of their containment cells. <> Blurr is at Jigsaw's side in an instant. "Canyoutransform?" Ugh, he probably didn't get that. "I mean..." he looks a little exasperated. "Can you transform?" he repeats, at a normal pace this time. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Protected. Sandstorm snaps back when Jazz yanks on his chain, but his optics keep focused on Ramjet. Shame he starts shouting and goes to grapple Imager first. Tch, someone must be on to them, there's no way the conehead would of figured it out on his own. But now is time for the fun to begin. There's a subtle click as the manacles are opened, Sandstorm grabbing the chain in his hands as he abruptly spins and lunges at Ramjet, trying to get the chain around the Conehead's neck servos and yank him off of Imager to turn him into Jazz's attack instead. "Sadly this won't actually shut you up!" Blurr says, "Keep them occupied, I'll get Jigsaw!" Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Sandstorm misses Ramjet with his Been waiting all night to do this (Grab) attack! Jigsaw stiffens in alarm when Ramjet outs the Autobots. "A'... Autobots?" And suddenly, the barriers vanish! The Empties freeze, stunned for a split nano before they leap from their cells and scramble for the hallway. Jigsaw struggles to stand, and is abruptly met with Blurr. And yes, Blurr needs to repeat what he said. "Uh, y-yeah. I'll be down a wheel but I can move. You guys have an escape plan?" Combat: Jazz strikes Contrail with his Work the Crowd Area attack! Combat: Jazz strikes Landshark with his Work the Crowd Area attack! *CLANG*, *CLANG*, *CLANG*, Ramjet just smiles at Imager as her head clangs against his repeatly, "Now darlin', you think a little flirtin' back is gonna save you?" Ramjet smiles, "You know what they say about Coneheads, once you...." Ramjet let's go of Imager as he leaps back from the charging Sandstorm, "Ooooooo, is this one yours? I was never good at sharin'" Ramjet lands as he holds up his hands, "Tell, you what...you beat me and she is yours..." Ramjet ignores the now cast aside Imager as he stalks towards Sandstorm, throwing a punch towards Sandstorm's jaw, "Let's see if this doesn't shut you up!" Combat: Ramjet strikes Sandstorm with his Trap Shut! (Punch) attack! Sandstorm says, "I'll deal with him, Imager, help get these mechs outta here" Sandstorm's remark is followed by a resounding *CLANG* Contrail is not flipped towards Ramjet, but she probably does sort of land on top of Rippersnapper? In any case, Contrail is seeing stars, and she doesn't mean Needlenose. She gets up and tries to shoot... someone? This is Stormtrooper school style, folks. Combat: Contrail's Acid Strike attack on Jazz goes wild! Combat: Contrail strikes Harrow with her Acid Strike attack! Imagergrowls, "Yeah yeah...fine, but you rip his mouth off or something since I gotta do the important thing" Sandstorm says, "Gladly" Combat: Contrail's Acid Strike attack on Jazz goes wild! Combat: Contrail strikes Landshark with her Acid Strike attack! Landshark was actually watching the prisoners being escorted all along. Honest! Ok, he hasn't given too much care for the whole situation considering stuff like new folks getting brought in for incarceration is something that happens on a daily basis. Whatever twisted delight Rippersnapper had gotten from poking fun at these guys has since lost most its charm after the hundredth time he had done that. Naturally when Contrail ordered him to start cornering the suspected Autobot interlopers, Rippersnapper was the last and ultimately unable to get his hand on any single Autobot before Contrail... sort of lands on top of him? Contrail's definitely heavier than she looks because Rippersnapper goes splat. It might also be because he's got no strength in his legs either. Oh well. The Terrorcon manages to shrug off the pain, get back onto his feet and makes a run for Imager, "You chose the wrong place to visit today, Autoscra---" WHACK! Contrail manages to end up shooting Rippersnapper in the back of his head, and he promptly hits the ground, stunned and confused, "Boss lady, honestly, what'd I do to deserve this?!" Combat: Landshark takes extra time to steady itself. Pass Tailgate says, "Jazz, how'd I do?!" Imager says, "I'm makin a hole here, follow me if you're needing outta here" Jazz says, "Awesome man. Follow Imager out. We will cover your backs." The punch does snap Sandstorm's head back briefly, then he straightens back up and uses one hand to crink his neck servos back into place. "Aaah, thanks Rambutt, I was getting a linkage cramp from hunching down like that." The other hand is used to pull his knife out of its concealed spot, the blade thruming with a faint orange glow as it warms up, Sandstorm flicks it around in his hand and attempts to gouge it into the conehead's side. Because that's the sort of thing they do in jail, gut people with concealed weapons. Combat: Jazz sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Ramjet with his Good Ol' Prison Stabbin's attack! The minibot looks Jigsaw over carefully, watching over him with great concern as he struggles to his feet. "Are you sure? You're pretty worse for wear.." he says, sounding quite worried. He notices Imager providing their means of escape out of his hellhole, He notices Sandstorm engaged in combat with Ramjet, and gives the Wrecker a tip. "Hit him really hard at the base of the cone on his helm!" Imager actually looks incredulously at Ramjet, "Guy's head is just metal all the way through." She shakes her head, rattling free a few now loosened circuits. She draws out her shield, glances back at Tailgate and Jigsaw. << I'm makin a hole here, follow me if you're needing outta here!>> With that she braces herself behind that tower shield, puts her shoulder into it and starts her lumbering charge back out the tunnel. She may not be a locomotive, but she's got a looooot of momentum to work with. "Yeah yeah, coming through, whatever you are!" And with that pithy remark, Imager counter-charges the hesitant Rippersnapper with several tons worth of smashin. Combat: Imager sets her defense level to Fearless. Blurr nods as Jigsaw confirms that he is able to transform and roll out. "Good, hurry before they send in reinforcements...I'll clear a path." he runs ahead then, but makes sure he isn't leaving Jigsaw in the dust either. <> He responds to Jazz over the comms, and heads after Imager, practically firing in every direction at once with the intention of knocking away any Decepticon who might try to block their escape path. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Tailgate analyzes Ramjet for weaknesses Sandstorm can exploit. Jazz unties the whip from his foot and makes a run towards Imager and Tailgate with his rifle now out. "Allright guys we need to start moving and covering. Once the target is safe we fallback on full-contact protocol. Go go go!" Combat: Jazz takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Combat: Imager strikes Landshark with her Ever get that run down feeling? (Smash) attack! Combat: Blurr strikes Contrail with his Quickdraw Area attack! Combat: Blurr strikes Landshark with his Quickdraw Area attack! Combat: Blurr misses Ramjet with his Quickdraw Area attack! Jigsaw watches as the entire dungeon just erupts in chaos. He transforms into a fourwheeler (sans one wheel!) and tears off after Blurr, back towards the submarine bay. Most of the 'cons aren't going to get in the way of Imager's tower shield, and the rest just end up ducking to avoid Blurr's wild shots. But it's clear an alarm as been sounded. Looking down at Sandstorm, "Eh, I like to help...I am helper..." He smiles as he crosses his arms over his chest, "Now...you gonna...ARRRRRRRGH!!!!" Ramjet staggers backwards as Sandstorm totally shakes him right in the side fuel pump. Ramjet reaches down and grabs at his wound, energon leaking between his fingers. "I'd be pissed if it wasn't something I would do...." Hearing the sound of weapons fire, Ramjet spins away from Blurr's barrage of cannon fire..."Hnnnn, you 'mechs want it rough...then..." He raises up his arm rifle and fires it at Sandstorm, "I will get Dirge to say a nice poem over your broken frame, bub." Ramjet continues to fire! Combat: Ramjet strikes Sandstorm with his Laser Fire for a Friend! attack! "Rippersnapper, you fool! Jazz has disrupted my targetting sensors!" Contrail snarls. She lunges after Jazz, cracking out her whip. She's pretty angry. They're all going to look like idiots if the Autobots escape... Combat: Contrail strikes Jazz with her Whiplash Whirlwind attack! Jigsaw says, "I'm fine, what's-your-face, just keep on your feet!" Landshark pulls his face off from the floor again, he's wobbling back and forth a bit from the effect of getting shot in the back of the head. Thank goodness the Maker him/her/itself decided to make Rippersnapper very damage resistant so he only has a headache to complain about instead of not even having a head left to gripe. "LIKELY STORY, BOSS LADY!" Rippersnapper complains! "Geez... first a tentacle monster, then nearly fragged by the boss lady." Rippersnapper shakes his shark-headed face, trying to shake off the disorientation. When his optics finally clears up he finds to his horror that a very big, and very thoroughly well built Cybertronian rushing right towards him, and that's really the last coherent thing he sees before his vision is filled with yellow stars dancing all over place. WHAM! The landshark gets thrown backwards like a ragdoll and flies through the air, somewhere along the lines he gets drilled a few times by Blurr's quickshots as well. He may possibly have been shot in the aft. It really is NOT Rippersnapper's day. By now Rippersnapper is literally staggering left, right, back and forward. He's barely standing on his feet. He probably should be running for his life, but he's a bit too stupid to realize that. Instead he defies all logic and wobbles over in front of Imager, "Y-y-you just stay right there, you think three of you is enough to take on me?! Not even close. I'm gonna claw all of you up real good, just stand still now!" From ol' Rip's perspective, he's seeing three Imagers at this point and he attempts take a swipe at all three of them! Tailgate says, "....my name is... oh, nevermind...." Combat: Landshark 's Claw Strike attack on Landshark goes wild! Combat: Landshark strikes Ramjet with its Claw Strike attack! Sandstorm turns his head just enough to glance over his shoulder as Tailgate shouts in his direction, leaving one to wonder if he can even see the little guy over those big wheels attached to his back. Jigsaw and the neutrals are on the way out, Imager is making them a path. Jazz is being awesome as Jazz is duking it with his Con counterpart. Just got to give these mechs enough time to clear out of hell. First ones in, last ones out. If at all. Just the way a Wrecker loves it. The potential of possibly not making it out of this situation in one living piece actually makes Sandstorm's energon rush all the more, but the mini-bot's advice isn't missed. He turns his attention back to Ramjet just as the Seeker raises his arms and opens fire, a wicked grin coming to his features as the triplechanger charges towards him. Several laser bolts slam into his chestplate, but they do nothing to slow down the Wrecker as he lunges towards Ramjet. "WRECK 'N' RULE!" Both hands grab for Ramjet's cone, and he gives it a firm yank down as he brings up one knee to greet it on that sweet spot Tailgate pointed out. Combat: Sandstorm strikes Ramjet with his WRECK 'N' RULE (Smash) attack! The hallway is wide but not that wide. The whilpash whirlwind quickly fills up the space and there is nowhere to go for the Autobot agent. The whip strikes a couple of times sending sparks from shoulder area. "Arg...Well played." Jazz raises his rifle at Contrail and fires off a quick shot. Combat: Jazz strikes Contrail with his Solar-Powered Photon Rifle attack! -3 Blurr continues after Imager's tower shield, headed straight for the submarine bay with Jigsaw just behind him. Hopefullly the Decepticons haven't dismantled their ship yet, but if that is the case, well, they'll just have to hijack one of the other submarines. <> Blurr mutters into the comms. <> In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr> begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. Tailgate transforms, following Blurr and the others out. He watches as the Wrecker deals Ramjet a solid blow to the helm. "Go get him, tiger!" the minibot cheers, beaming happily at his fellow Autobot. Combat: Tailgate begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sandstorm, Jazz, Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>, Ramjet, and Contrail Tailgate transforms into a Sports Car! The Third of the Imagers that Rippersnapper saw turns out to be the decidedly non-Imager, Ramjet who lets out a yip as Rippersnapper swipes off a piece of his leg armor! "UGH! You Monsterous Morons have worse aim than a Decepticon Targetmaster..." Ramjet lets out a laugh at his joke, forgetting all about Sandstorm for a moment. Ramjet isn't a good multitasked..."Wha? Wreck and Wha?" Looking over Ramjet manages to catch a brief glimpse of Sandstorm, then of Sandstorm's knee as his conehead is all violated. *CRUNCH* The Knee slides through Ramjet face, sending the Seeker flying backwards, hitting the ceiling and then hitting the floor, leaving a Ramjet sized dent in both places. "Hnnnnnnn....now, that hurt..." Ramjet moans as he lands on the ground, energon leaking through the seams of his armor, parts of which are scattered by him, one piece hits him in the head, falling from the ceiling. Looking upwards, Ramjet spares a wink at Sandstorm, "Oh...Wreck and Rule...I know that game..." Quickly, Ramjet reverts to his plane mode and begins flying as a missile straight at Sandstorm, "Let's RUUUUUUUUMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLLLEEEE!" He calls out over the roar of his engines! Ramjet expands and twists and folds as his Seeker form becomes his plane mode all under a second. The Transforming Sound plays in the background. Combat: F-15 strikes Sandstorm with his Defending the Castle! attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Sandstorm's Agility. (Crippled) Sandstorm says, "Just say the word, Jazz." Sandstorm says, "I can make it so they don't use this dungeon for a long time." Jazz says, "Word...We are getting out." Contrail gets shot and grunts, smoke rising from her wounds. She shoots after Jazz, running down the hallway, feet a-clatter. Ramjet, though... that's impressive. Combat: Contrail strikes Jazz with her Acid Strike attack! Decepticon reinforcements begin to arrive, toting large, menacing guns and marching in lockstep towards the scuffle. It probably would not be wise to tango much longer! Landshark finally regains his balance, and he... thinks he might not be seeing triples anymore. Maybe a bit of doubles, but that's good enough for the fella. The Terrorcon regains his wits long enough to realize that the Autobots are making their escape, and a fleeing enemy is exactly what he needs to get his bloodlust going! The landshark roars and chases after Jazz, "You're not getting away, Autobot!" Here's the thing though, Rippersnapper is all bark, no bite. Can he overwhelm Jazz, or would he be the one being overwhelmed instead?! Combat: Landshark strikes Jazz with its Shark Attack attack! -2 Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Jazz's Agility. (Crippled) Jazz winces as Contrail's acid shot nails him. Rippersnapper is gaining ground a bit too fast for his taste. Some armor gets shredded off sending the bot tumbling off balance and into a roll. A quick systems check says he can't keep this up for long unless he goes for plan B. Jazz makes a mad dash of free-running into the hallway and heads for the sub. Combat: Jazz begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Sandstorm, Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>, F-15 , 1986 Pontiac Trans-Am , and Contrail Blurr says, "Jazz, Sandstorm--the target has been secured. Tailgate is with me, are you almost out?" Jazz says, "Almost...Start the engines we are running down and bringing the party." Blurr says, "Got it, propulsion systems powering up now." Sandstorm says, "Slag, they're calling in reinforcements. Blurr, as soon as Jazz is on there with you, get that sub full of neutrals outta here!" Sandstorm says, "I've got one last bit of Wrecker biz, I'll get outta here on my own" Blurr says, "Wrecker business? And what business is that, exactly?" Being in close quarters conflict means that Sandstorm doesn't have the time to even think about getting out of the way when Ramjet transforms and slams into him at practically pointblank. The pair hurtle across the chamber until the Wrecker slams backside into the opposite wall, sending assorted pieces of hideous looking torture equipment scattering from being shaken loose of their keeping places. Sandstorm clenches his dental plates as he strains for a moment and finally manages to push the jet off. And takes a moment to take stock of the situation. Their mark and his allies are getting out. Imager, Blurr and Tailgate are all clear as well escorting them. Jazz, if he's smart, will be getting out after them. After all, he's head of Intel, he's important enough to need to survive. Not just some tough but irrelivant Wrecker that's going to die in the trenches some day where his kind are suppose to bite the big one. Actually he might of considered just following Jazz, but his head snaps back at the sound of goosestepping Decepitroops and arming weapons. If they caught up to the others, they could overpower even the toughest of escorts. Not on Sandstorm's watch. He's gonna get yelled at for this, but hell, if he survives Command can reprimand him all they want. It's time to get shit done. "Time to do what you Cons really hate us to do." He pulls out a large cylindrical device, turns the handle on one end and pushes it into the device, causing the central tumbler to start to glow as its interal workings spin and hum with charge. "Breaking your toys!" Sandstorm chucks the cylinder towards the center of the dungeon as he turns towards the tunnel. The resulting explosion should be enough to do a number on those guards, the dungeon, and hopefully the actual Decepticons too! Combat: Sandstorm strikes F-15 with Wrecker Back-up Plan's Huge Explosion #6558 Area attack! Combat: Sandstorm's Wrecker Back-up Plan is destroyed! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired F-15 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Sandstorm strikes Contrail with Wrecker Back-up Plan's Huge Explosion #6558 Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Contrail's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Sandstorm strikes Landshark with Wrecker Back-up Plan's Huge Explosion #6558 Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Landshark 's Agility. (Crippled) Sandstorm answer is the explosion that carriers over his frequency Blurr says, "Sandstorm! Damn it--!" Tailgate says, "I...I trust you to get out of there safely, don't break my trust now! I'm counting on you to come back.. don't let me down!!" The first row of 'cons peer down at the cylinder. And it EXPLODES! The force shoves all of them out into the submarine bay itself or through the nearest shaft towards Castle Decepticon, and fire singes the cells, thoroughly wrecking the dungeon and everything in it. A second set of alarms begin to blare. Looping back towards Sandstorm, Ramjet begins flying towards Sandstorm, "Break our toys? We don't have no stinkin' toys....We only have...PRIMUS IT BURNS!!!!!!" Ramjet emits as he flies through the explosion, sending Ramjet straight into the nearest rock wall, sheering off a wing as Ramjet flies into a large Torture device which pierces through his undercarriage. After a moment, Ramjet reverts to his Robot mode as he looks down at the large blade on the torture device that is through his chest, "Ughhhh...I hate Wreckers..." Ramjet then reaches back and pushes himself off the blade and hits the ground with a thud, laying there, Ramjet holds up a hand, "Let me catch my breath..." He continues to lay in a pool of his own Energon. "Ughgghghghg...I better not become a Sweep..." He grumbles to himself. Landshark continues to chase after Jazz, the momentum that he had somehow built up while catching up to the Autobot meister himself soon evaporates away and the Terrorcon ends up panting in exhaustion like a fat kid who ran through half a city block trying to catch up to the ice cream truck that's driving ever so slowly away. "Pfffeh... fuuuuh..... fuuuuh, yeah you better.. fuuuh... fuuuh... you better run your aft outta here. Glad you know your place, inferior scrap!", Rippersnapper brags boisterously, albeit with a lot of exertion to back it up. The landshark then begins to notice that the floor he's standing on is rumbling. In fact, everything seems to be rumbling. His back is starting to feel hot too. What the? He turns around curiously and then just jaw drops as the last thing he sees is a fireball of explosion engulfing him! The Terrorcon runs around in flames for a few moments before hitting the nearby wall and collapsing onto the floor. He definitely got wrecked and ruled. God, these Autobots are more vicious than the Decepticons! Combat: F-15 takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Ramjet twists and folds from a F-15 to his Seeker form in under a second, while making the classic transforming sound. Contrail is blown the slag up. That's all there is to it. They're going to be picking pieces of her out of rooms of the Castle on the other side. When she gets up - because she gets up, she's a zealot and she hates the Autobots so, so much right now - about three quarters of her head are gone. Both arms. Her chest is a mess, barely held up by her spinal chain. She slumps back down, transforms, and spitefully shoots at Sandstorm. Some ceiling debris falls and hits her. Flipping into a modified F-35B Lightning II, the sky is not the limit. Combat: F-35B Lightning II strikes Sandstorm with her AIM-120C AMRAAM attack! Jigsaw says, "Your buddy's insane!" Sandstorm's signal crackles back in. "Yes, yes I am." Hardhead says, "Hnnn?" Jazz says, "Should see the christmas parties." Jigsaw says, "You Autobots are either incredibly thick or incredibly selfless." Blurr says, "Sandstorm, get your aft to the sub, now!" Jazz arrives in the sub pen and sees the sub leaving. He retracts his hand and fires off his grappling hook at the rafters and swings across the pen onto the sub's deck. "Let's go Sandstorm!" Torque says, "Oh man, that just reminded me, Jazz. I need to finish wrapping!" Jazz says, "Is one of those gift for me?" Torque says, "Of course, though I can't tell you what it is. Would ruin the surprise." Tailgate says, "Aw, you're okay! I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. Yeah! Wreck n... and.. and Duel? What's.. what's that thing you say?" Hardhead says, "I need to acquire...gifts." Tailgate says, "Hardhead! I have the perfect gift for you and Strawberry...!" Jigsaw says, "...I'm thinking incredibly thick." Torque says, "...Who is Strawberry?" Sandstorm says, "Rule, little budy. Wreck N Rule." Sandstorm says, "An nah." Sandstorm says, "SOme of us are both!" Tailgate says, "Thick?! Didn't you just see how awesome he was? I mean, Sandstorm! He's /so/ selfless!" Blurr says, "Awesome?!" Blurr groans. By the time the bomb blows Sandstorm is already striding away, because real mechs walk while the explosion makes an epic backdrop behind them. Scorched Decepticons and dungeon bits falling with the smoke and flame helps. Just wish he had a pair of sunglasses to put on while doing so. Oh well. As burned guards tumble away he pauses in the sub bay and brushes some ash off one arm, then the other, ignoring the massive rent Ramjet put in his midsection. "Okay, had my fun, now I'm ready to go." And that's when Contrail manages to spite him in the back with a missile. The blast pitches the Wrecker off the deck, over the submersable, and into the water. At least now he can just grab onto the sub as it passes by though. Tailgate sounds embarrassed. O-oh, rule.. right. Blurr says, "We had this under control, Sandstorm--the bomb was unnecessary." Combat: Sandstorm sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Sandstorm begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar < Blurr>, 1986 Pontiac Trans-Am , and F-35B Lightning II Sandstorm all too cheerfully, "It probably was. But it did stop those squads of guards coming after you." Sandstorm says, "And they ain't gonna be putting anyone in that dungeon for quite some time." Blurr says, "Like I said, we had it under control." Hardhead says, "Strawberry is my Roommate that Tailgate got me." Blurr says, "Yeah, sure they'll be putting them in the -smelting pools- instead." Hardhead says, "Strawberry told me to tell you, 'Hello and that she appreciates what you are doing.'." Torque says, "Ah, well, uh.. how nice." Tailgate says, "Aw, Blurr, don't be a spoilsport, you were amazing too! You were both amazing, I'm so privileged to be an Autobot alongside you guys. And Hardhead, tell Strawberry that I love her and that it wasn't a problem at all." Sandstorm says, "Yeah yeah, go on, yell at me, reprimand me, make me scrub out the oil change pits with a wire brush -again-. Not the first time." Pause. Chuckle. "Won't be the last, either."" Blurr mutters something about brutish infantry types not understanding the definition of a 'clean operation'. Tailgate says, "oh!! Good! I hope you're only preparing toast in the way the handbook I gave you tells you to!" Blurr says, "Tailgate." Tailgate says, "... yes?!" Hardhead says, "I am. I also Clean Strawberry's crumb tray and oil her as instructed." Blurr says, "Report to the Decagon training simulator." Tailgate says, "Oh I'm so glad!! I'm sure she appreciates it so much! And I trust she has been a good roommate to you as well?" Tailgate says, "oh...um.. okay!" Tailgate says, "Can it be later though? It's getting late.. the toasters need tucking in.." Blurr says, "NO." Jigsaw says, "I'll need to speak with your officers, if that's all right..." Tailgate says, "b-but..." Tailgate sighs. Hardhead says, "She is quiet and clean. She is a good roommate." Blurr says, "I'll be at the Decagon, Jigsaw." Blurr says, "No buts. Now." Dungeon - Castle Decepticon - Helex Dimly lit by energon torches, rows of cells line the walls of this circular room, so that all of the prisoners have an excellent view of the torture chamber in the center. Eerily quiet, the prisoners here learned a long time ago that bargaining, begging, and screaming was a hopeless waste of energon. Nate Briar says, "Wait, Hardhead? You have a significant other beside Duros?" Tailgate says, "I'm so glad, Hardhead. I always knew you were a good candidate for toaster adoption" Hardhead says, "Commander Briar, Duros says we are 'Life Partners'....I am not sure what that means. Thank you for your faith Tailgate." Tailgate says, "O-Okay. I'll be there.." Blurr says, "It's in Iacon...can't miss it." Nate Briar says, "You are life partners now? I believe you have rights in about 28 of the United States then." Sandstorm is trying really hard to not snicker Jigsaw says, "All right... well, I need to acquire another leg first. Their pet mechalligator gnawed mine off." Blurr says, "Our medics will see to that. If there's anything else you need, let us know." Hardhead says, "Rights?" Blurr waits impatiently for Tailgate to arrive at the simulator in the Decagon, pacing restlessly back and forth, his body a streak of blue and white. Hmph, hardly a clean operation as he'd hoped for, but the worst of it was that it could have been cleaner, if it hadn't been for Sandstorm's idiotic Wrecker ideology....ugh. Tailgate says, "Of course! Perhaps.. you'd like to adopt a ... microwave s'more maker? It's a boy, and his name is Fudge..." Hardhead says, "Hnnnnn...No....eerrrrr, Fine. I shall, you have the code to my quarters, leave the manual." Tailgate arrives, slighty dilatory, looking uncertain and a little uncomfortable. He looks up at the speedster, optics wide and expectant, hands clasped together rather anxiously. "... you rang?" he meeps meekly. Tailgate says, "Oh Hardhead I knew I could count on you! You really are one of the best mechs here on the base. <3" Hardhead says, "Hnnnn." Nate Briar says, "Hardhead, I have a PS9 that needs a father figure. He's part of the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantis. Really good kid too." Tailgate says, "Oh that's a wonderful opportunity for you Hardhead!" Hardhead says, "Commander Briar....I....." Hardhead says, "Accept." Tailgate says, "I knew it! Your compassion and hospitality know no bounds!!" Hardhead grunts, "Hnnnnn." He then disconnects his comm. Nate Briar says, "It's ok, Hardhdead. Tailgate just adopted a dishwasher, a laundry machine, and a urinal." Sandstorm says, "Toasters aren't really my thing, little buddy.... but if you ever find an energon distiller I will gladly take it off your actuators." Sandstorm says, "If anyone sees Imager, tell her I made Ramjet kiss bomb explosion for trying to molest her." Blurr halts his pacing and stands in front of Tailgate, his arms crossed although he doesn't look particularly angry at him...he is more annoyed with Sandstorm than anyone else right now. But, he gives the minibot somewhat of a stern look. "Tailgate, you need to understand that in our line of work...it's extremely important that we don't get distracted." Tailgate says, "Oh! I was talking to Hardhead, but that's alright! Maybe a portable microwave? Or an electric tomato squeezer?!" His optics widen and he stares at Blurr for moment, before quickly averting his gaze shamefully. He thinks back on their little recon mission, searching for all the moments where he had made a mistake or was potentially at fault for the thing Blurr was accusing him of. "... I was distracted? Oh.. I got distracted, I'm sorry! It's just that when I saw all those damaged empties, I felt so.. so awful and bad for them. That several breems ago I had just been sitting in my hab suite contentedly reading my toasters a story while they were suffering... " Blurr sighs, and slowly crouches down so that he is looking Tailgate in the optics. "Look, I know you're a compassionate mech...and not that it's a bad thing, but there's a time to mourn for others and a time to--well, not. When we're in the middle of an operation like that, we can't let that kind of stuff get to us. We can't let our emotions distract us. If we do that just makes it more likely that the mission will be compromised and that we'll fail to actually relieve them of that miserable situation, and you wouldn't want that, now would you?" Suddenly Tailgate just looks utterly bereaved. "Y-you mean.. I shouldn't feel sorry for them!? Or be moved by the fact that they've probably endured more pain than I ever have?" He sighs sadly, hanging his helm. "You say you know that I'm compassionate, and I know you're kinda...not and not being affected by their bad condition probably comes naturally. But.. that's.. that's really hard for me, Blurr--and I know.. I messed up.. I'm so good at that.." "No! It's not that you shouldn't feel sorry for them at all, it's just that you shouldn't become emotionally involved at that critical moment. You have to learn to suppress those feelings and not let them cloud your judgement or keep you from remaining focused on the objective." Blurr explains, looking a bit exasperated. "I know it's hard, but what isn't hard these days, anyway?" "....I tried." Tailgate says almost inaudibly, still hanging his helm. "I really did... does that count?" he mutters to himself too quietly for Blurr to comprehend. "....nothing! That's why I sometimes wonder how I ended up here, I don't like fighting or having to hurt people. You probably always wonder why I still do maintenance even when there are drones to do that kind of work, well it's because that's all I know. That's... that's all I'm good at. And I keep dreaming about a day when there's no more fighting or pain, and all Cybertronians live together in peace and harmony.." "Yes....yeah of course that would be nice." Blurr says absently, straightening back up. "I'm sure you did try, but you need to try harder. Work on it. It takes training and that's why we train." he gestures around at the room in general, and all its holomatter projectors. "That's what this room is for. You need to stop coddling inanimate objects and start working on staying focused. Understand?" Tailgate just nods slowly, looking downcast. "Of course," he says softly. He stares around at all the holomatter projects, his optics wide with a blank expression. He doesn't voice the fear welling up inside of him, the fear of failing time and time again despite extensive training. "....and what if I don't get better?" he asks, more to himself than to Blurr. he pauses. "Do you really believe that Blurr? And after the war is over, are you just gonna go back to being famous, just like the old days?" Iacon General Hospital - Iacon There are many hospitals in Iacon, but none as prestigious and well equipped as Iacon General Hospital. The numerous state of the art facilities housed within the hospital offers around the clock emergency repairs, upgrades, and mundane upkeeps. Iacon General Hospital is staffed by many of the Autobots' brightest minds where the non-combatants can do their part in contributing to the war effort. Tailgate suddenly enters the room, albeit quietly, and if one isn't quite attentive, they probably wouldn't have even noticed him come in. He trots over to the medberth and looks up with shining optics in admiration at the Wrecker without saying a single word. Instead, he just stands there, watching him as if he were a celebrity on stage far away. Sandstorm glances down at one arm as if checking a watch. "Eh, I'm sure First Aid will turn up eventually to give me the usual lecture about being careful about how I handle explosives. Again. Thanks Jetfire." Then looks up to see a minibot staring at him. Shifts a bit to reach over and pat Tailgate on the shoulder. "Good job tonight buddy." The little minibot doesn't say anything for a moment, instead, he just averts his gaze and stares at the floor. He seems.. unusally unhappy. It's not like Tailgate to look so downtrodden, the little mech is typically a constant bundle of joy and cheer. "....oh...!" he says finally, "...thank you." But it sounds more like an automatic polite response than a proud thanks for a job well done. Eh? Well that's odd. Sandstorm rolls over a bit farther to lay on his side facing the smaller Autobot. "Seems like something's still bugging you." "....oh... don't worry about me." Tailgate says softly. "I'm fine." The minibot pauses. "I just.. I just wish I could be more like you." Another pause. and a sigh. "It seems like I can never have Blurr's approval..." he says in an even quieter tone of voice. Speak of the devil. As if on cue, Blurr enters the repair bay just as Tailgate mentions the speedster. He marches up to a medical technician and demands information on Sandstorm's status. The tech quickly brings up the files. "A-ah...yeah, he's well on his way to a full recovery, sir. A few more cycles of rest and he should back on his feet. That's what Jetfire put in his log, anyway..." the gumbie says a bit shakily. Blurr glances momentarily over the reports, then nods briefly with satisfaction. Then he proceeds to glare across the room at Sandstorm. There's something about minibots and looking for appreciation from bigger transformers, isn't there? Shouldn't this be a conversation to have with Bumblebee or someone more familiar with it? Ah well. At least Sandstorm has some yellow on him. "Pff. The sentiment is nice, but I'm probably one of the last Bots a nice guy like you wants to be like. I was the one going half-cocked and full throttle ready to blow myself up with those Decepticons if I had to." He shifts onto laying on his back again. Almost like he didn't notice Blurr there in the background. "Excessive and unnecessary, and all." Until he says that in just such a tone of voice that hints otherwise. "Oh no, I didn't mean like... well, I suppose, who doesn't want to be brave and fearless. But I was more specifically talking about the time you were connected to Vector Sigma. I mean, you did what I failed to do. You're so strong--and I was just.. so weak and vulnerable. I ended up messing up my own cerebral circuitry big time. My memory is often patchy at best. I never wanted to be great. But I would like to, just once, to contribute something memorable to the Autobot cause. Because a lot of times I just feel like a burden...." Tailgate says meekly. As soon as Sandstorm says that, Blurr is suddenly across the room in a flash of blue and white. Without further hesitation, he launches into a tirade. Which, despite its abruptness, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows the speedster even remotely well. "What the frag were you thinking, Sandstorm?! You could've gotten yourself AND Jazz killed! We didn't NEED you to blow up the reinforcements, we were already in the docking bay for Primus' sake! You weren't being thorough, you just wanted an excuse to set off a slagging bomb! That was an extraction operation, NOT a frontal assault or even a sabotage!" he fumes. There is an aspect to this that Sandstorm definitely doesn't understand, though Blurr would probably refuse to tell him about it even if asked. That gets a bit of a snicker out of the Wrecker. "Somehow I doubt I was their prime choice to be sharing processor wavelength with the biggest computer on Cybertron. But you've gotta stop selling yourself short, kid. So you've made mistakes. So do we all. Half the time I end up laying her is because I did something as brash and stupid as it was brave. Case in point:" Which is when Blurr comes storming in. And by the way he doesn't flinch in the least one gets the impression Sandstorm was just waiting for the moment. To which he holds up a correcting finger to the speedster. "That everyone else was already in the bay is the point, dude. And Jazz crosses the limit of the farther potential blast radius of that explosive at the same moment I tiggered it. The only one who was in risk of getting himself slagged was myself, before you try and push that angle too far." Sandstorm has that whole secretly highly intelligent at certain things going for him, after all. Maybe that wasn't as unplanned as he made it seem... "But you're right, I did really want to set off that bomb in middle of a Decepticon facility. It wasn't a sabotage mission, but why pass up the oppritunity?" Then he calmly waves his hand at Blurr again before shifting back onto his side. "Do you mind though? We were having a spark to spark here." To which he goes back to Tailgate. "As I was saying, before being predictably interrupted, it's not making mistakes that makes someone bad. Especially not someone like you, whom keeps getting up and trying again." Blurr glares daggers at Sandstorm this entire time, and rudely interrupts again. "Yes, in fact, I DO mind! This is more important! Okay, fine, Jazz wasn't that much at risk but did you EVER stop to think about the fact that you're actually valued, too?! Just as much as everyone else on that damn team?! You could have been killed, or WORSE, taken prisoner!" Sandstorm's pep talk doesn't seem to do much for the minibot, he nods slowly but doesn't seem to totally agree. "I guess. But.. I'm a minibot. There's a lot of limits to what I can do. And you, well, you're a Wrecker..." He hangs his helm. When Blurr arrives, Tailgate suddenly goes quiet and averts his gaze. He cringes at the speedster's lengthy tirade. optics crinkling sadly. "....he's right, you know. Besides, what matters is that no one did get hurt--it's in the past and you can't change it, so you might as well stop being angry about it." Tailgate's optics widen. "Blurr, if you're really that upset about him almost getting killed, I would think you'd be more.. concerned? I mean, if any of those awful things happened to him, it would have been his own fault--and he wouldn't have done it unless he thought he had chance of getting out of it, no matter how slim--he's a Wrecker, surely you understand, even I trusted he'd get out. And I don't mean to insult you, but it isn't really like you to guilt trip about the bad things that people bring onto themselves...." Sandstorm on the other hand chuckles again as he sits up and clasps a hand to Blurr's shoulder. "Well you're right on that one. I've seen what Decepticons do to prisoners many times before this, being dead would be MUCH more preferable." Then lets go. "And to answer your question, yes. But as all well and good that is to be appreciated and admired, we're still fighting a war here. Eventually its going to come down to someone having to stick his neck out to make sure the rest of you can get the mission done and win. And I'd rather it be me than, y'know, one of you guys that actually has more going for them than the fighting." Blurr just looks even more livid at everything. And everyone. But mostly at himself. There's so much more to this than he's actually letting on, but he'd never tell them about it. Yes, it's true...Tailgate is right. Normally he wouldn't be upset over someone risking themselves unnecessarily...but this time he feels personally responsible. He just makes a distraught noise and turns around angrily. "No! You don't understand! This was my operation. Jigsaw was captured because when we were escorting he and his people to the Canyons, I failed to keep him from becoming a Decepticon prisoner. I---" he stops suddenly, sighing with frustration. "--you know what? Just...just forget it..." The speedster begins to walk away at this, looking terribly distraught. "And you didn't want rescuing him to be marred by someone else dying. Or the potential there for. Is that it, Blurr?" Though Sandstorm doesn't try to stop the speedster from walking out as he leans back to rest against the wall behind his medtable. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the concern. But if you really want to help those neutrals, shouldn't you be more concerned with that you not only saved their leader -but- a bunch of other former prisoners as well, rather than the one guy that got a bit triggerhappy with a bomb to make a likely stupid point?" Tailgate's optics widen, and his expression softens, and he starts after Blurr. He sighs sadly, watching the speedster compassionately. "Blurr.. it's okay, everyone messes up sometimes, why didn't you say that before, instead of getting angry? We're not going to stand and point fingers at your mistakes because we're equally guilty." He glances over at Sandstorm briefly. "I know that as someone who works for intel you have to do... things that the end result has to be worth. You say that almost everything we do here as Autobots is hard, and you're no exception, and you don't have to pretend that it isn't." "Don't just walk away and assume that I don't understand. Because I do. Hell, I work under you. You don't have to pretend to be stronger than you actually are." Tailgate adds. "No...noit'snot...it'snotokay..." Blurr says quietly, stopping momentarily. "I know you'd like to understand, Tailgate--and I know you try, but really, you don't." And with that he brushes past him, headed for the door. "And you can't." he adds. "And that," Sandstorm thrusts up a finger as if making a grand point on a realization, "is why you need to stop selling yourself short Tailgate." Then sweeps the arm out to tap said finger to the minibot's chest. "Because you still have what counts in here. You may not be big, or strong, or brave, but you've got what it takes to step in and remind some of us big brawly badass types that there's still more for us than the fighting." Then withdraws his arm to rub his chim. "Hmm. Or maybe that should be remind us what there is to fight for.... eh. Whichever works." This segues into a stretch and a yawn. "I think I'm gonna catch a defrag and let the repairs settle." "... maybe, maybe not. But maybe if you just let me, I might be able to. Stop pretending, Blurr.. you don't have to..." Tailgate trails off, watching the speedster leave. He beams at the Wrecker. his mood restored. "... th-thanks. You have a good rest. I'll see you around." And with that, he leaves the medbay.